Perforating device for music-rolls.



PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905.

H. P. BALL. PERFORAT-ING DEVICE FOR MUSIC ROLLS.

APPLIQATION FILED MAR-8, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR PATEN'IED JAN. 3,1905.

H. I. BALL. PERFORATING DEVICE FOR MUSIC ROLLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8, 1902.

3SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTUR arf " Wmww WITNESSES:

WL/ ATIORN EY PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905.

7 H. P. BALL. PERPORATING DEVICE FOR MUSIC ROLLS.

APPLICATION FILED MARJB', 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES:

ATTo l HENRY PRICE NITED STATES Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

BALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO SAMUEL INSULL, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PERFORATING DEVICE FOR MUSIC-ROLLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,836, dated January3, 1905.

Application filed March 8, 1902- Serial No. 97,353.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY PRICE BALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, county and State of New York, have invented acertain new and Improved Perforating Device for Music-Rolls, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to a perforating device adapted to be used inconnection with a piano or other similar musical instrument and whichhas for its object to exactly reproduce upon a moving strip of paper asa series of perforations the notes played upon the piano or othermusical instrument, so that when such perforated strip is caused to passthrough a suitable mechanical musical instrument the musical compositionoriginally played will be exactly reproduced.

The object of my invention is to simplify the production and decreasethe cost of musicrolls.

The accompanying drawings will serve to illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the perforating device as appliedto a piano. Fig. 2 is a side elevation and partial section on the line VWV of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line X X of Fig. 1.Fig. .1 is a vertical section on the line Y Y of Fig. 3 and shows theparts in their first position. Fig. 5 is a view showing the upper halfof the instrument in vertical section on the same line as Fig. 4:, alsoshowing the parts in their second position with the lower half of thefigure as a side elevation. Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line Z Zof Fig. 3 and shows the parts in their third position. Fig. 7 is anenlarged view of the cam, its latch, and the shaft upon which the camand latch are mounted. Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the eccentric andthe shaft upon which it is mounted. Fig. 9 is a detached View of theeccentric and punch used for perforating rack-holes in the paper. Fig.10 is a plan view of a portion of a music-roll.

In my former applicati0n,Serial No. 94,633, filed February 18, 1902, Ihave generally described the construction and mode of operation of myimproved perforating device for music-rolls, and as the presentapplication re- 5 lates wholly to certain modifications in such device 1will give but a general description of the main features of theperforating device, witha more extended description of such features ofconstruction shown in this application as differ from those of myprevious application.

Referring to the drawings, 5 represents a musical instrument-such, forinstance, as a piano; 6, keyboard; 7 perforating-machine mounted on thetop of the instrument or in other location; 8, electromotor; 9, sourceof electric energy; 10,rheostat; 11, switch; 12, keys of musicalinstrument; 13, vertical rods connecting with the keys; 14, leversconnect- 5 ing with rods 13; 15, cords connecting with levers; 16,pulleys over which cords pass; 17 and 18, bell-cranks; 19, frame ofperforatingmachine; 20, 21, and 22, horizontal shafts having theirbearings in the frame of the perfo- 7 rating-machine; 23, driving-pulleyon shaft 20; 24:, belt between motor 8 and pulley 23; 25, gear on shaft20, which meshes with gear 26 on shaft 21; 27, gear which meshes withgear 28 on shaft 29. ()n the lower end of the shaft 29 is a worm 30,which engages with gear 31 on shaft 22. The gearing between therespective shafts is such that the shaft 20 will make one revolution inthe time of four revolutions of the shaft 21 and the shaft 22 will makesuch a number of revolutions as will cause it to advance the paper-rollM onetwentieth of an inch for each revolution of the shaft 21. Therelative speed of the shafts 20,

21, and 22 is not essential; it may be altered. 5

Mounted on the shaft 20 are a series of cams 32, each provided with alatch 33. These latches have a peculiarly-shaped tailpiece, for thepurpose which will be later on described. Located between the cams andsecured to the 9 shaft 20 are the toothed wheels 34., each provided withfour equidistant teeth. Located in the path of movement of the earns 32are the bell-cranks 35. Mounted on the shafts 21 are a series ofeccentrics 36, each carrying a latch 37, which, so far as shape isconcerned,

correspond to the latches 33 on the cams 32. Secured between theeccentrics on the shaft 21 are the toothed wheels 38, each provided witha single tooth 39. It will be observed that the toothed wheels on theshaft have four teeth and the wheels on the shaft 21 one tooth.Connectedto each eccentric 36 through a suitable strap is a punch 40,which reciprocates in a bearing 41, located over a fixed die-seat 42.Mounted on the opposite end of the shaft 20 are the eccentrics 43, eachprovided with a suitable strap and connected through a link 44 and lever45 with a punch 40. These eccentrics and punches serve to produce therack-holes, (indicated at R, Fig. 10.) Mounted on the opposite ends ofthe shaft 21 are the eccentrics 46, each provided with a suitable strap,from which depend links 47, on the ends of which are elastically mountedpresser-feet 48. g

The music-roll M, from which the paper is unwound, is mounted upon shaft49, carried in an elastic bearing 50. A similar shaft 51,'hav ing asimilar elastic bearing 52, is arranged opposite. The shaft 22 islocated between the shafts 49 and 51 and is provided with a frictionalsurface 53, which bears upon the paper on the shafts 49 51. If,therefore, the shaft 22 is assumed to turn to the left, as indicated bythe arrow, it will unwind the paper from the shaft 49 and wind it uponthe shaft 51. The paper after leaving the shaft 49 passes over a fixedroll 54, thence over the dies 42, under the punches 40, and over aroller 55, mounted in boxes 56, arranged to reciprocate horizontally inthe frame of the machine. Bearing against these boxes are thesprings 57.

The operation of my device will be readily understood. The motor impartsthe required speed to the perforating device, which speed shouldcorrespond with the tempo of the composition played. When the parts arein motion and a key is depressed, the bell-cranks 17 and 18 are throwndownward. The action of the bell-crank 17 releases the latch 33 on thecam 32. When the latch is released, its hook engages with one of theteeth of the toothed wheel 34 on the shaft 20. If at the time when thelatch is released a tooth happens to be in the immediate vicinity of thelatch, engagement between them takes place at once. If, however,-thetooth is not in the immediate vicinity of the hook of the latch, aslight interval of time will elapse between the releasing of the latchand its engagement with the nearest tooth. By reason of thisconstruction notes which are intended to be playedat the same time inthe composition, but which have been struck by the performer insuccession, are brought together and perforated on the music-roll on thesame line, so that when the music-roll is put through a mechanicalmusical instrument such notes will, in fact, be sounded at the sametime. It will thus be seen that by reason of the mechanupon the roll 51.

ical construction of the device faults of the player will be correctedby the device before the notes played are recorded as perforations onthe music-roll. engaged with a tooth on the wheel 34 the cam 32 isrotated to the right. Fig. 5 represents the position of the parts whenthe cam starts to move. til it has described one hundred and eightydegrees. At this point, assuming the finger of the operator to be helddown upon a key, the latch 33 by the action of the bell-crank 18 will bereleased, the cam 32 will come to rest, and the bell-crank 35 by theaction of the cam 32, moving over one arm of the bellcrank, will releasethe latch 37 over the eccentric 36 and allow the hook end of thelatch toengage with the tooth 39 on the toothed wheel 38 on the shaft 21. Thiswill cause a movement of the eccentric 36 on the shaft 21 and areciprocation of the punch 40. The position of the parts when thismovement commences is shown in Fig. 6. The reciprocation of the punchwill cause the punch to pass through the paper of the music-roll. If wenow assume that the paper has a continuous forward feed of one-twentiethof an inch for each reciprocation of the eccentric 36, it will beevident unless some means is provided for holding the paper under thepunch that the paper would be subjected to strain. when the punch ispassing through the paper. The means provided consists of thereciprocating presser-feet 48, which bear upon the paper and hold itduring the period that the punch is passing through the paper. It willalso be evident that if the paper is held over the dies while the punchis passing through it and a continuous forward movement is given to thepaper by means of the shaft 22 some means must be employed to provide aslack in the paper to the left of the die-seats at the time when thepunch or punches are passing the paper. This slack is arranged for byproviding for the horizontal movement of the roll 55, resisted by thesprings 57.

It will be understood that the paper is held by the presser-feet as thepunches descend, and while the paper is so held the roll 55 moves to theright and the paper is wound In the meantime the paper has accumulatedto the right of the dies, so that when the punches and presser-feet risethe paper is moved forward suddenly to the left under the action of thespring 57. It will be further understood that the reciprocations of thepunches are so timed that the movement forward of the-paper will alwaysbe one-twentieth of an inch for each reciprocation of the eccentricsoperating the punches. It will also be understood that thereciprocations of a punch will continue so long as a key is helddown-that is to say, so long as the parts are maintained in the positionindieated in Fig, 6.. With this conditi n the perforations in As soon asthe latch has,

A cam will travel to the right un- IIO the paper will lap each other andform a slotreturned to its original position and have released latch 37.In the meantime the paper will have moved one-twentieth of an inch. Ifthis movement of the parts is repeated by the key being again depressed,the movements will be indicated on the paper by a series of separatedopenings indicating separate notes, (shown at T, Fig. 10.)

It will be noted from the above that the minimum speed at which themachine is operated will be such that the cam 32 will describe onerevolution before the operator can make a second depression of the keycontrolling such cam. This feature of construction is one of greatpractical importance, as it permits the machine to be operated at a verymuch lower rate of speed than has been the case with other machineswhich have been designed for the same purpose, for it will be seen thatby reason of the construction a time interval is introduced between thestriking of a key and the recording through a punch. Consequently everynote struck must be recorded, and to insure the reproduction of thenotes played it is only necessary that the paper shall be caused to-movethrough the perforating-machine at the speed with which the paper willsubsequently be caused to move through the mechanical musical instrumentwhich reproduces the notes played.

In order to provide that the latches 33 37 will always be effective andnot pass the bellcranks 17, 18, and 35, I provide each latch with atailpiece having such shape that when the tailpiece comes in contactwith the end of the bell -crank levers the tailpiece will be moveddownward such a distance as will prevent the tailpiece passing the endof the bell-cranks, and thus maintain the hooks in their first orreleased position. Further, in order to prevent the eccentrics frommoving to the right I provide the spring-latches 58 between theeccentrics and their straps. Further, to provide against the cams 32slipping over the arms of the bell-cranks 35 when in the third position,Fig. 6, I provide a slot 59 in the end of the bell-cranks.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A perforating-machine formusic-rolls embodying in its construction, a series of recording means,a series of selecting means, and means whereby such of the recording-means as are selected within a definite time will be recorded as ifselected simultaneously.

2. A perforating-machine for music-rolls embodying in its construction,means for creating a definite time limit between the energizing of thedevice and the recording of the movement of the device upon amusic-roll, and means for imparting to the paper of the music roll adefinite step by step forward movement.

3. A perforating-machine for music-rolls embodying in its construction,means for creating a definite time limit between the en-- ergizing ofthe device and the recording of the movement of the device upon amusic-roll,

and means for giving to the paper of the music-roll a continuous feedand also a definite step-by-step forward movement.

4. In combination with a key of a musical instrument, means forrecording the movement of said key upon a moving strip of paper andwithin a period of time a definite amount shorter than the time ofmovement of the key, means for holding said paper in a fixed positionfor, a definite time, and means for imparting a definite forwardmovement to said paper when released.

5. In combination with a key of a musical instrument, means forrecording the movement of said key on a moving strip of paper within aperiod of time a definite amount shorter than the time of movement ofthe key, and means for giving to the paper a definite step-by-stepforward movement.

6. In a perforating-machine for music-rolls, a continuously-feeding andtake-up mechanism for the paper to be perforated, and means for holdinga portion of the paper in a fixed position for a definite interval oftime.

7. In aperforating-machine for music-rolls, a continuously-feeding andtake-up mechanism for the paper to be perforated, and means for holdingthe portion of paper being perforated stationary.

8. In a perforating-machine for music-rolls, a feeding and take-u pmechanism for the paper to be perforated, and means for holding asection of the paper stationary while being perforated, at variousintervals in its travels, at the will of the operator.

9. Inaperforating-machine formusic-rolls, a feed mechanism for the paperto be perforated, means for perforating the paper, means for windingsaid paper from one roll onto another at a fixed speed, and means forholding a portion of the paper in a fixed position for a definiteinterval of time. 7

10. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, a feed mechanism for thepaper to be perforated, means forperforating the paper, means forWinding said paper from one roll to another at a fixed peripheral speed,and means for holding a portion of the paper stationary while beingperforated.

11. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, a feed mechanism for thepaper to be perforated, a series of perforating-punches,

means for winding said paper from one roll onto another roll, at acontinuous rate of speed, and means for maintaining the portion of thepaper under the punches stationary during the time that such portion ofpaper is being perforated.

12. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, feeding mechanism for thepaper to be perforated, means for perforating said paper, means forwinding said paper from one roll onto another roll at acontinuous rateof speed, means for maintaining the portion of paper under theperforating means stationary during the time that such portion of paperis being perforated, and means for preventing any forward tension uponthe music-paper while being held under the perforating means.

13. In a perforatingmachine for musicrolls, a pair ofresiliently-mounted rolls, from one of which the paper is unwound to bewound upon the other, means for producing a definite speed of rotationof said rolls, and a fixed and yielding roll over which the paperpasses.

14. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, a series of reciprocatingpunches, a series of die-seats, a pair of spring presser-feet, a movingstrip of paper, and means for creating a continuous feed of said stripof paper.

15. In a perforatingmachine for musicrolls, a pair of reciprocatingspring presserfeet, a moving strip of paper, means for imparting acontinuous feed to said strip of paper, and means for giving to saidpaper a stepby-step forward movement.

16. In a perforatingmachine for music rolls, and in combination with theroll from a forward movement of said paper when the paper is released.

18. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, the combination with amoving strip of paper, a horizontally-reciprocating roll over which thepaper passes, and means for exerting lateral pressure on said roll.

19. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, a series of rotating cams,a series of rotating eccentrics carrying punches, a series of fixeddie-seats, reciprocating presser -feet, a moving strip of paper, and theinterposed mechanism whereby motion is given to the parts and astep-by-step movement to the paper.

20. In a perforatingmachine for musicrolls, a series of rotating cams, aseries of rotating eccentrics, a series of punches, and the interposedmechanism to give motion to the parts and astep-by-step movement to thepaper to be perforated.

21. In a perforating-machine for musicrolls, a series of reciprocatedpresser-feet, and means for advancing and taking up the paper atconstant speed.

22. In a perforating machine for musicrolls, a series of punches, seriesof means throwing one or more punches into action, and a controllingtiming means for each, dividing the time of action of tlie first-namedmeans into distinct periods of time in synchronism with the movements ofthe punches.

23. In a perforating-machine, the combination of a driven shaft having atooth formed therein, a series of eccentrics on said shaft, a latch oneach eccentric adapted to engage with the tooth on the shaft, a seriesof punches adapted to be actuated by said eccentrics, and means-forthrowing the latches on the eccentric into and out of engagement withsaid tooth on said driven shaft.

24. In aperforating-machine, the combination of a driven shaft, providedwith atooth, a series of eccentrics, a latch for each eccentric, aseries of punches to be operated by the eccentrics, a series of pivotedbell cranks adapted to cooperate with the latches on the eccentrics, andmeans for moving the bellcranks.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the'presence of twowitnesses.

HENRY PRICE BALL.

Witnesses:

JOHN CLINTON DONAHUE, I. WERTHEIMER.

